2015 Water Company of the Year

Water Company of the Year

For the water company that made the most significant contribution to the development of the international water sector in 2014.

Abengoa

What is it?

A Spanish concessions and construction company with interests in water and renewable energy.

What has it done?

In 2014, Abengoa contracted two major water pipeline projects at San Antonio in the US and Denizli in Turkey, and began work on the Zapotillo pipeline in Mexico. In desalination, it closed the financing of the 100,000m3/d Agadir plant in Morocco, signed a contract for a plant in Dalian, China, with a capacity of up to 250,000m3/d, and completed the construction of the 60,000m3/d Nungua project in Ghana and the 200,000m3/d Ténès project in Algeria. In the industrial sector, it expanded its interests in the mining, power, and oil & gas sectors with projects in the US and Chile. On the technology front, it was one of four companies selected for the Masdar renewable energy desalination tender, and has been developing new technologies for value-from-urine and multi-barrier treatments for water reuse. On the corporate front, it acquired a stake in GreenTech, one of China’s leading membrane systems suppliers.

What makes it special?

Abengoa have brought a unique combination of energy, creativity and commitment to some of the most difficult projects imaginable. Each time, it has reached a deal which leaves clients satisfied while safeguarding its shareholders’ interests. Abengoa’s unique ability to deliver on the impossible is reason enough to believe that even the world’s most intractable water problems can be solved. Abengoa Water CEO Carlos Cosín and business development VP Arantxa Mencia head a team whose commitment to delivering results is unmatched in the water industry.

The Vista Ridge pipeline in San Antonio is a landmark project in the US: the first major privately financed bulk water supply initiative agreed without major public resistance. The combination of a sensitive understanding of the client’s point of view and an absolute refusal to let the project die won the day. It is a recipe that could open the market for private water across America.

In 2014, Abengoa showed that it is so much more than just a desalination company, with notable successes in water transmission, industrial water and wastewater, as well as research.

Distinction

Aqualogy

What is it?

The non-concessions business of Suez Environnement subsidiary Agbar.

What has it done?

Aqualogy has developed a portfolio of knowledge-based service offerings to complement Suez Environnement’s concessions and design-build businesses. It spans new technologies, operational and capital project-based services, and conceptual work, as well as practical assistance to both municipalities and industrial customers.

What makes it special?

Aqualogy has brought a compelling new business model to the global water sector that will change the face of the industry over the next decade. It has blown open the concept of the private water operator to make world-class expertise available to all, whether or not they want to make the commitment to a long-term concession.

In 2014, it saw growth across all its operational areas, winning new clients for its service innovations such as ice pigging for network cleaning (in the US, UK and Poland), iDROLOC helium leak detection (in Algeria, Spain and France), thermal sludge drying (in the UK and Poland), electrochemical treatment of leachates (in Brazil and Belgium), desalination plant operations (for municipal and mining customers in Chile and Peru), irrigation project management (in Spain), and industrial water footprinting (in the food and beverage sector).

Aqualogy’s new service offerings are becoming a key driver of growth for Suez Environnement. Their success could provide a new paradigm for public-private partnerships in the water industry.